Tampa Bay Buccaneers Are Better Off Without Darrelle Revis

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are moving into a new era of football. They restructured the coaching staff and front office, and appear ready to make some serious moves in terms of the roster.

The latest ax to fall came down on cornerback Darrelle Revis, a player the team is better off without moving forward.

In his one and only season with the team, Revis didn’t quite live up to the massive contract that he signed last offseason. Despite receiving the biggest contract ever for a cornerback, the former New YorkJets star didn’t seem like a great fit for Greg Schiano’s defense, and it showed on Sundays.

Not exactly what you expect from the NFL‘s best cornerback (supposedly).

His release opens up about $16 million in cap space, which will allow the Buccaneers to continue their aggressive pillage of the free agency market. They’ve already acquired defensive end Michael Johnson, cornerback Alterraun Verner, offensive tackle Anthony Collins (rumored), tight end Brandon Myers,and quarterback Josh McCown, all considered some of the top talents available at their respective positions. With plenty more cap space now available, they can sign a couple more impact free agents.

As an added bonus, the Buccaneers must now only send a 2014 fourth-round pick to the Jets instead of a third-round pick as part of last year’s trade for Revis.

Lovie Smith is building a roster full of hard-working, team-first players. Revis went against that mindset, which likely was a huge part of the Buccaneers’ reasoning behind the release. The extra cap space and drop in draft pick value were just perks of pulling the plug.

Revis is expected to sign with the New England Patriots soon, but the Buccaneers aren’t concerned. They’ve taken another step towards turning the franchise around, and appear to be headed towards a brighter future in 2014.